Chasing McCree (7 page)

“
Look, I heard what
happened between you and Alex.”

I grimaced, thinking at this rate, I’d
need to transfer to an out of state school to get away from the
gossip. “Who hasn’t?”

“
Can I offer you some
advice?” really? since when was he the helpful kind?

“
I think I’m past the stage
of needing it.” I headed for the truck, but Nathan kept on my
heels.

“
Alex has a lot riding on
him…the team, family stuff. Maybe you could work with
him.”

My back went ridged. I spun to face
him. “Are you kidding me? Is this a sick joke you’re
playing?”

“
No. You don’t know what
it’s like to be under all this pressure. It’s hard.”

“
Hmm, sounds excruciating.”
I crossed my arms and waited for him to finish what he wanted to
say. It was obvious I wasn’t going anywhere until he
did.

Nathan seemed to take offense to that,
and hit me with a real zinger. “If you would have done what Alex
wanted, then he wouldn’t have slept with Rachel.”

“
So it’s my fault? Rachel
could have told him no.” Nathan was just trying to make himself
feel better. I wasn’t the problem, but I was the easiest person to
take it out on.

Nathan flinched at that remark. “She’s
done with him now.”

“
If you say so.”

“
Why are you walking away?
I’m not done talking.”

“
Too bad, I’m done
listening.” I ran the rest of the way to the truck. Chase opened
the door and slid out so I could get in.

Nathan glared through the windshield.
“We will finish this Monday.”

I shook my head and glanced
away.

“
Maybe if you weren’t such
a stuck up, snotty bitch—”

“
Hey, watch your mouth.”
Chase snapped.

I turned in my seat, realizing he was
still outside, and he took a step toward Nathan.

“
Can we go, please?” I
asked, hoping he wouldn’t confront the quarterback. Not that Chase
couldn’t take him. Nathan was all hot air. Still, I didn’t need my
new friend fighting with my old one.

Chase got in and shut the door,
reluctantly. I watched him watch Nathan stomp back into the
gym.

“
Wanna tell me what that
was about?” Chase asked, curling his fingers around the steering
wheel. It wouldn’t surprise me if he imagined the wheel was
Nathan’s neck.

“
Not right now.”

“
Later then.”

I agreed with a stiff nod, wrapping my
arms around my middle. It was only so comforting to hug yourself.
And I could use a hug right now. I was half tempted to ask Chase to
drive me to Grandma’s house. She always knew how to make me feel
better. A nice cup of mandarin tea, or a virgin daiquiri, and we’d
lounge by her pool keeping each other company while she told me
about her adventures with my grandfather before he bought the funny
farm.

“
You’re awful quiet,
Briar.”

It was hard to talk around the big lump
in my throat. Chase and I were new friends, and I didn’t need to
cry in front of him, again. I’m almost positive I bawled half the
time we were together last night. He didn’t need a
repeat.

I shrugged.

“
Come on, Briar. Talk to
me. You look like you’re on the verge of cracking.”

“
I can’t.”

“
Why not?”

“
I’m trying to keep from
crying. I always cry. I cry when I’m happy and sad, angry…pretty
much with every emotion I have.” I watched the lights of other cars
and businesses flash by the truck in a blur.

He chuckled. “Your tears don’t scare
me.”

“
Ha!”

“
They don’t. You need to
cry, have at it. I got a clean sleeve you can soak
through.”

I turned, squinting through the tears
flooding my eyes in shock. “You’re serious?”

“
Yeah, why does that
surprise you?”

“
So you don’t think I’m an
overdramatic, needy, emotional mess?” because that’s how I
felt.

“
No, I don’t. You’re
reacting to a bad situation.”

I took a shaky breath, “I’ve never met
anyone like you before.”

“
I could say the same about
you.” He draped his arm behind me on the seat, not quite touching
me. It was meant to be a comforting gesture though. I could tell he
was trying to console me, not make a move. “They don’t have
manners, those people you called friends. My Aunt Millie would skin
me if I ever disrespected you. Hell, I’d help her. Relationships,
Millie says, begin with respect. And I say a person doesn’t deserve
you telling them the time of day, if they can’t treat anyone
decently.”

“
How do you know all
this?”

“
I listen. I watch. But I
also come from a different kind of lifestyle. In a lot of ways,
we’re behind the times. When you live on a ranch, far away from the
cities and trends, you’re not as affected.” He lowered his voice,
but it filled with laughter. “I’d never seen a guy wear eyeliner
until I moved here. Never been to a mall with a valet and men in
suits to cater your every whim. It shocked the hell out of me that
a store could charge two hundred dollars for a pair of jeans, faded
and ripped.”

“
You couldn’t have been
that cut off.”

“
I had internet and a cell
phone. But I never had a reason to go looking for stuff like that.
I had other things on my mind. Our TV got local news stations, and
the weather. That’s it.”

“
But what did you do for
fun?”

“
Oh, the other ranches
would have dances, mostly in old barns. We’d have barbeques, and
then the fairs are great. The rodeo. Plenty to do when you’re not
running the ranch… I’d go hunting with my friends,
camping.”

“
I’ve never been
camping.”

“
Why not?”

“
My mother says it isn’t
civilized.”

“
Your mother must have
gotten her wires crossed somewhere.”

“
No, more like fried from
all the injections.” I laughed. “What do you do when you
camp?”

“
I like to fish.” He
frowned. “Let me guess, you’ve never been fishing
either.”

“
No.”

“
But this is Florida.
You’re surrounded on three sides by water.”

I bounced in the seat, feeling my
spirits lift. “The best idea just came to me. What if we take turns
doing something that we like to do together?”

“
So I take you
fishing?”

“
Yes, and I can take you
to….” I paused. What did I actually like to do outside of shopping?
Well, there was something… “Have you ever been to an
arcade?”

“
No, can’t say that I
have.”

“
What about laser tag? Putt
putt golf?”

He smiled. “Are you pulling my
leg?”

I frowned. “No…normally I go shopping
with my friends and to the movies. I was just trying to think of
something.”

“
Hey, it’s not a big deal.
Take me shopping, I’ll live through it.”

“
I can do more than
shop.”

He shot me a sideways
glance.

“
Fine,” I sighed. “It’s
time to broaden my horizons and spice things up.”

“
Great, I’ll take you
horseback riding.”

By the time we were done making plans,
Chase had pulled into an old diner a few blocks from his house. I’d
never been inside before. My parents would probably freak out. They
didn’t eat at places with burgers and fries on the menu.
Considering how much they’d controlled me when I was little, I
never ate at places like this either. But I was looking to broaden
my horizons, so I followed Chase inside.

And of course, he held the door for
me.

That was unexpected, and it made me
smile.

The diner wasn’t much, just old brown
tables and booths. The floor was green tile, and the windows
covered by heavy white blinds.

I wondered why the place wasn’t
condemned.

“
Hey, you okay?” Chase
asked after we slid into a booth.

I nodded. “I’m guessing this is a hole
in the wall.”

His face lit with a grin. “Another
first?”

“
I can’t help it. Up until
a couple years ago, I wasn’t allowed to do anything without strict
supervision.” Between my mom and the Nazi nanny, my days were
pretty much planned out. “But I’m seventeen now, and I drive, so
it’s harder for my mom to keep tabs on me.”

“
I’ll have you corrupted in
a couple weeks.” He chuckled.

The waitress came to the booth and we
ordered burgers, fries, and root beer floats. They came out fast,
and I wanted to sing with delight. “Greasy diner food is the
best.”

Chase nodded. “Yeah, but have you ever
been to a barbeque?”

“
Uh, no. Is it fun?” we
weren’t paper plate people. We ate off china and drank from crystal
stemware. I can’t say that I’ve actually noshed on corn on the cob
or barbeque anything.

“
Yeah. We’ll have to fix
that.”

We were almost finished eating when a
bell dangling from the diner door jingled. The last two people I
ever expected to see came inside.

“
Hadley, Emma?” I called,
before I realized they probably were going to treat me the same way
Beth did. I shouldn’t have drawn any attention to
myself.

The girls went stiff and turned around
slowly.

Emma, I noticed, was wearing sneakers
with her green mini dress. That was a first.

“
Hey, Briar. I never
thought you would be here.” Hadley plastered on a smile and glanced
nervously back at the door.

“
Neither did I.” I said,
wondering why they were acting so funny. Both looked ready to
bolt.

Emma sighed. “Oh, we thought you’d be
with Beth and Rachel. They are staying in a hotel on the beach with
the guys.”

“
Wait, Rachel and Nathan,
and Beth with…Alex?”

“
We were shocked.” Hadley
nodded, eyes flicking back to the door again. “You and Alex are so
made for each other. How could he just go with Beth so
soon?”

Emma murmured her agreement, but her
brown eyes flitted between Chase and me. She began to fidget with a
strand of her brown hair, so I took that as my queue.

“
Emma, Hadley, this is my
friend Chase.” I said with a smile. I wanted them to know that I
was happy, and more than okay. Alex could screw Beth, Rachel, and
the entire cheer squad. I did not care.

“
Hey.” Chase said in his
smooth drawl. It wasn’t southern. He just had a relaxed way of
talking. His was the kind of voice that melted the mind. And I
could see it affected my friends.

“
I know you.” Hadley
glanced out the window, looking at the truck. “You’re the new guy.
Country poke. My brother said you live in a trailer.”

Now I don’t know how most guys would
have reacted to that comment. Mostly I think they would have cursed
or come back with some sarcastic remark, but Chase didn’t do
anything. He just glanced away, eyeing an old poster on the
wall.

“
Hadley,” I snapped. “Just
because he’s different, doesn’t mean he’s stupid. In fact, he’s
probably the smartest person I’ve met. Chase, I’m ready to go
now.”

We went to the register to pay, leaving
Emma and Hadley standing stupidly by our table.

“
You know,” Chase said as
we walked to the truck, “I don’t think anyone’s stood up for me
before. That’s probably because I’ve never been made fun of before.
Thanks, Briar.”

I shrugged. “It’s not that big of a
deal.”

“
You might not think so,
but I do.” He opened the truck door and gave me a hand inside. But
he didn’t let go. He pressed a quick kiss to the back of my hand,
and then let me have it back. “So, where to?”

“
Oh,” I sighed, trying to
keep from blushing. “I don’t know.”

“
Let me help you narrow it
down,” he winked and started the truck. “Where do you not want to
go?”

“
Home.”

“
I knew you would say
that.” He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel in time with a
country song on the radio. “How about the beach?”

“
Sure, it’s a nice night.”
I smiled as he started to hum along to one of the songs. He was
just so…easy. It was like he didn’t have a care in the world. There
wasn’t any tension in him. He wasn’t nervous like I was. This could
technically be considered our first date. I was a jumbled mess
inside, but Chase was as steady and calm as ever.

I’d honestly never met anyone like him
before. His mannerisms were just so foreign to me.

Despite that, I decided I liked him. I
liked him because he was everything I wasn’t. He was sure and
strong and steady. And Grandma was right. Chase wouldn’t grab my
ass unless I asked him too.

As we drove to the pier, it became
clear to me. Not only Chase was a guy I could trust, he was someone
that I could love. I’d never been in love before, and I wasn’t in
love with him now, but I was in like. I liked him, and I could see
myself falling for him. It would be easy. But part of me also
thought it would be hard.